Rulers allow us to measure short lengths simply by placing the tool next to an object. But what if you want to get a measurement, say 5 inches, without said tool? Saying 5 inches is the same as 12.7 centimeters won’t help us much in this scenario. For such cases, your best bet is to use everyday objects you know measure about 5 inches long.
All of the following items measure about 5 inches:
- Bar of soap
- Index card
- 2 playing cards
- CD or DVD case
- Hershey’s candy bar
- 1/3 sheet of legal paper
- 2-1/2 AA batteries
- 3 wine corks
- Butter knife
- Bottle opener
1. Bar of Soap
Soap bars are little blocks of wonder! They started appearing in 2800 BCE, with the earliest soaps being made from animal fats and ashes. The soap world has come a long way since then, with modern bars of soap coming with all scents and colors. Some even have tiny toys to make baths even more fun for children.
If you’re curious about the size of something, just grab a bar of soap from your bathroom. It’s usually around 4-1/4 inches long. Of course, this figure refers to new bars of soap. The longer you use it, the more it shrinks.
2. Index Card
If you’re a student, you probably have a stack of index cards on hand at the moment. Invented in the 1700s, they were first used to catalog books. These handy cards are perfect for flashcards, recipe keeping, or even makeshift bookmarks.
Index cards are perfect for measuring 5 inches since they are 3 × 5 inches. However, they come in all sorts of sizes, with the largest common size being 5 × 8 inches. Hey, it can still help you visualize 5 inches without a ruler!
3. 2 Playing Cards
Playing cards date back to 9th century China! Each deck has 52 cards, which is believed to symbolize the 52 weeks in a year. The 4 suits represent the 4 seasons, and if you add up all the symbols in a deck, you get 365, just like the days in a year.
To visualize 5 inches, line up 2 playing cards. Each card is about 2-1/2 inches wide, so 2 side by side are about 5 inches. If you’re into palm reading, you can also use a tarot card as a reference since it measures around 4-3/4 inches long.
4. CD or DVD Case
CDs were a huge hit in the ‘90s! They can hold slightly more than 79 minutes of music, and if you uncoil a CD’s data layer, it stretches out to about 3-1/2 miles. The first commercial CD produced was 52nd Street by Billy Joel in 1982.
To get an idea of 5 inches, take a look at a CD case. They’re typically slightly more than 5-1/2 inches long, including the width of the spine. Alternatively, the width of a DVD case can act as a reference for 5 inches.
5. Hershey’s Candy Bar
Hershey’s chocolate is a delicious piece of American history! Founded in 1894, Hershey’s was the first to mass-produce chocolate, making it affordable for everyone. The iconic Hershey’s Kisses were introduced in 1907, and they’re named after the kissing sound the machine makes!
When you’re trying to picture 5 inches, think of a Hershey’s chocolate bar. These yummy 1.55-ounce bars are typically about 5.37 inches long. In Kisses terms, you’d need about 6-2/3 of those ¾-inch bulbous delights.
6. 1/3 Sheet of Legal Paper
Legal paper is usually seen in law offices. It’s 14 inches long, 3 inches more than the standard letter size. The common reason for the additional length compared to letter size is that official and legal documents usually needed more space to print important information. Using multiple letter sheets would be a waste of paper.
So, how can you use a 14-inch-long sheet of paper to measure 3 inches? Simply fold the paper like a hamburger in thirds, and you’ll end up with something close to 5 inches (4-2/3 inches, to be precise). Folding it in half lengthwise would get you 4-1/4 inches, which is pretty close.
7. 2-1/2 AA Batteries
Batteries are tiny powerhouses that were invented in 1800 by Alessandro Volta. The first ones were called Voltaic Piles, made of zinc and copper. The term “battery” was actually coined by Benjamin Franklin more than 50 years before Voltaic Piles, which originally referred to a series of electrical cells.
The most typical size of an AA battery is just under 2 inches. So, standing 2-1/2 of them on top of each other would result in a pile of batteries measuring pretty close to 5 inches. Using 3 AAA batteries could also work here.
8. 3 Wine Corks
Wine corks are actually made from the bark of cork oak trees, mainly grown in Portugal. The cork bark is harvested without harming the tree and regrows. Surprisingly, cork trees can live up to 500 years, with harvesting done every 9 years.
The height of a wine cork varies. Simple wines have 1-1/2-inch corks, so 3 of them would just be half an inch shy of the 5-inch mark. 3 corks for medium aging wines (1.7 inches) would be a better representation of what 5 inches looks like.
9. Butter Knife
Butter knives are designed with a dull edge to spread, not cut. They became popular in the 18th century to prevent people from using sharp knives on soft butter, which caused unsightly clumps. Old butter knives often came with ornate handles, with many modern butter knives keeping to tradition.
When you’re trying to figure out what 5 inches looks like, grab a butter knife from your kitchen drawer. Most butter knives are about 5 to 7 inches long.
10. Bottle Opener
Not long after the advent of the bottle cap did bottle openers come about. Before that, people used whatever they could find to pry open their drinks! There are countless designs now, from simple metal tools to quirky shapes like animals or guitars.
You can look to a standard bottle opener to guesstimate 5 inches. These things typically measure close to 4-3/4 inches from end to end. If all you have are miniature bottle openers on your keychain, 2 of them (2.36 inches) will do the trick.
